Purpose of this resource

Here you will find a gradually growing collection of articles with general information on cicadas, significant new research findings and a regular Cicada of the Month feature, all designed to promote public awareness of Australia's loudest and most acoustically complex insects.

By February in Australia, the peak of the cicada season has passed, but
it is still summer and the cicadas still tend to hang on, particularly in coastal and tropical areas. One of those cicadas is
Yellowbelly, which is the cicada of the month for February. Yellowbelly may be one of the smaller species
in the genus Psaltoda, but it
produces quite a loud and conspicuous calling song for its size. The call of an individual male sounds very
much like a small power generator, with a definitive purring quality. Males may call continuously or in short
bursts, with a characteristic ‘sigh’ at the end of each burst. When in large numbers, the call becomes a blur
of noise, loud enough for people to take notice at times. [A male Yellowbelly cicada, calling on a tree trunk]

Each year, the first adult Yellowbelly cicadas typically
appear in late October. They can be
present in big numbers anytime between late November and late February. Numbers usually drop dramatically during
March with occasional survivors extending through to April. The species is found from north Queensland
south along the coast and ranges to the south coast of New South Wales. They can be found in association with
eucalypts in open forest, in heathland and shrubland. Populations generally require in-tact areas
of bushland to persist, but they can also occur in adjacent parkland and sometimes
in gardens. It is a prominent species in
parts of Greater Brisbane and Greater Sydney, particularly in areas with soils
derived from sandstone and granite. [A female Yellowbelly cicada, showing its golden underside (hence the name)]

Like almost all larger cicadas, Yellowbelly adults tend to
occur in localised aggregations in bushland areas. Like other species in the genus Psaltoda,calling males flex their abdomen freely to alter the tone and
pitch of their song. The abdomen also
expands quite noticeably during song production. The species has been called ‘Yellowbelly’ due
to the rich, honey-like coloration of the underside. It can be distinguished from other similar
species in the genus by the colour of the postclypeus (‘nose’) being
predominantly black, in combination with clear wings.

Further information and a distribution map for this species can
be found here and you can listen to its unique and unusual calling song here.

About

Lindsay Popple is a dedicated cicada researcher who has been studying cicadas for more than 16 years. He maintains a fully databased collection of Australian cicadas and created 'A Web Guide to the Cicadas of Australia', a resource that provides the most up-to-date information on Australian cicadas for the broader public.